Packing machine



April 12, 193s. R. J. pmscou. Er AL PACKINQMAGHINE Filed Dec. 5, 1936 INVENToRs Richard J. Driscoll BYJOhn ff. Driscoll @aA/l. film@ ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 12, 1938 Richard J. Driscoll, white rising, N. Y.. ana John H. Driscoll, Edgewater, N. J.

Ammann December s, 193s, serial No. 114,354

8 Claims.

' This invention relates to packing machines and particularly to machines for iilling and packing bags or other containers with. materials to be stored or shipped therein.

It is an object of the invention 'to provide an improved apparatus for packing materials in a bag or other container.

It is a further object to provide apparatus of the character described which is efficient and l0 durable in operation. l

` It is a further object to provide packing apparatus which is adapted to pack the material in the bag or container tightly and thereby increase the amount of material which may be packed in bag or container.

It is a further object to provide packing apparatus which is rapid in operation to reduce the time required to pack a bag or container with material. 4 Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter. y One illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in whichz- Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a machine embodying the invention.

Fig- 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l. l

4 is an enlarged section taken on the lin 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the lower `end of the feeding and packing screw or auger viewed from the right in Fig. l. f

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

As conducive to a better understanding of this invention it may-be noted that packing machines are used to fill and pack various types of containers with materials such as cereal products. our, feed, bran, gypsum, cement, lamp black, molybdenum, brewers grains, clay products, chemicals, linseed meal, dried milk, and many similar materials, and it will be' understood that the expression material as used in the specilication and claims is intended to include such materials and all other materialswhich are susceptibleof being packed in a receptacle or container. In lling bags or other containers with material it is desirable for purposes of economy that the bag or container be quickly illled with material and that the material be tightly packed in 55 the bag or container -to increase-the amount oi material which the bag or container is capable of holding,

In. the pastmaterial has been fed into a bag or container by means of a rotating screw.v or

auger which presses the material toward the bot- 1 5 tom of the bag or container, the bag or container beingl gradually lowered-from the screw or auger as it iills with material. Such a screw orauger produces initially a fairly tight packing of the material adjacent the screw or auger but 10 fails to spread the material laterally of the screw .or auger with suiilcient force to pack tightly the A material throughout theeritire bag or container,

with the result that no uniformly tight packing of the bag or'container is possible. 15

In oui` copendlng application Serial No. 52,101 led November 29, 1935, as a division of our copending application Serial No. 754,988 filed November 2'?, 1934, we disclose and claim a packing machine having a screw or auger provided with means (therein called an expander) which opcrates toy spread and pack the material laterallyci the screw or auger, thus tightly packing the material toward lthe sides of the bag orcontainer.

. 25 In said copending application the pitchof the l spiraled channel of the screwor auger is substantially uniform and one expander is located in the channel near the lower end of the screw or auger to produce thelaterally tight packing. 30

We have discovered that more 'efficient results can be obtained by providing two spiraled channels for a distance above the lower end of the screw or auger, and by locating an expander i in each of the two channels at opposite sides oi 35 the screw or auger. v This arrangement which will now be described in connection with the description of the apparatus shown in the drawing increases the eiliciency oi' the machine by permitting 'a tighter 40 packing in much less time.

Referring to Fig. l, the illling and packing ap paratus is supported by a frame I which may be provided with a' base 2 upon which the bag or container 3 ymay rest during a filling and pack- 45 ing operation.

The material which is to be packed in the bag I may be kept in a bin l. suitably supported adjacent the machine and provided with a spout 5 down which the materials may iiow into a funnel 8 having a spout I which extends into the bag l. The funnel 6 may be supported by a bracket l extending from frame I.

'I'he material which flows into the funnel 6 is fed therefrom into the bag 3 bya rotating screw 55 lower end of the screw to be lowered into the bag at the start of a lling and packing operation and to be gradually and automatically raised during the filling and packing operation. ,In Fig. 1 the position of the screw 9 in the bag during an early stage in a packingI operation is shown in dotted lines, and its position during a later stage in the packing operation is shown in full lines.

The screw 9 is provided with two spiraled channels designated respectively 9a and 9b. The

channel 9a is continuous from the point designated X in Fig. 1 to the lower extremity of the screw, but preferably from the`point designated Y in Fig. 1 to the lower end of the screw its pitch is substantially doubled. r f

The second channel 9b extends from Just below the point Y to the lower end of the lscrew and its pitch is substantially the same as the in- 'creased pitch of the channel 9a.

For purposes of illustration, if the pitch of the channel 9a between the points X-Y in Flgfl is two inches, the pitch of the channel 9a below the point Y and the pitch of the 'channel 9b would be substantially four inches.

Located within the channel 9a near the lower extremity of the screw 9 is an expander I3 shaped as shown -in Fig. 4.- to press the material laterally toward the sides of the bag upon rotation of .the screw 9.

On the opposite side of the screw 9 and located in the channel 9b is a second expander II.

The two expanders I0 and II are preferably located directly opposite to each other on opposite sides of the screw 9 to balance the screw and permit its rotation at high speed. The expanders are preferably formed as integral parts of the screw.v 4

.The screw 9 is mounted for rotation and to permit vertical movement in bearings I2 and Il vcarried respectively by brackets I4 and I5 ex- -tending from frame I.

To limit the downward movement of the screw 9, a thrust bearing I9 may be adjustably secured to the screw above the bracket Il. Ihe screw 9 may be rotated by a gear I1 having a, vertical keyway connection I3 with the shaft of the screw 9 to permit the screw 9 to move vertically within the gear I1. Gear I1 may be driven by a gear I9 on'a shaft 29 to which is fixed a drive pulley 2|. Drive pulley 2l may be driven by a belt 22 from a motor or line Y Shaft.

' In the absence of resistance to this upward thrust of the material the resulting packing will be less tight than if resistance to the upward thrust of xthe material is provided. And'the amount of resistance provided ywill control the tightness of 'the-pack. To provide the desired amount of such resistance the shaft of the screw 9 is surrounded above the channel 9a by a sleeve 23 provided on "one face with a rack 2l which meshes with a" gear 29 on a shaft 29 journaled in a bracket 21extending from frame I. Secured to the otherend of'a shaft-29 is .s drum; 29 around which is audios or auger 9 which is vertically movable in the spout 1 as hereinafter explained to permit the trained a cable 29 which passes over a pulley 3l carried by a bracket 3| secured to frame I. Secured to the lower end of the cable 29 is a seat 32'upon which weights 33 may be placed. The arrangementis such that the weights 33 tend to rotate the drum 28 andthe gear 25 ina counterclockwise direction and through rack 24 move sleeve 2 3 downward. Movement of sleeve 23 upward or downward moves the'screw or auger 9-y upward or downward through the laction of Athrust bearings 34 and 35 respectively secured to screw 9 above and below sleeve 23.

For holding the screw 9 in raised position against the force of the weights 33 after a filling operation has been completed, and while an empty bag or container is being located beneath the spout 1, a spring-pessed latch 36 is pivoted to the bracket 21 in position to snap under and hold thrust bearing 35 when the screw 9 is in raised position. After the filled bag or container has been removed and an' empty bag or container is positioned for filling beneath the spout 1,' the latch 39 may be released by pressing on handle- 31 of the latch. -Thereupon the screw 9 will drop down into the bag ina position to start a filling operation, its downward movement being limited` by the position of the thrust bearing I6 on the upper end of the shaft of the screw 9.

The screw 9 may be manually raised or lowered by turning a hand'wheel 38 (see Fig. 6)

which is secured to shaft 26. v

IThe operation of the machine lshould be clear from the foregoing description. Withan empty bag 3 resting upon the base 2 beneath the spout 1, the handle 31 is pressed to release the latch 36 and permit the screw 9 yto drop into the bag until arrested by the thrust bearing I6 or the hand wheel 38, The machine is then started and rotation of the screw 9-will feed the ma terial from the funnel 6 through the spout I` into vthe bag 3. Continued rotation of the screw 9 will pack the material downwardly and laterally in the bag. The weights 33 will tend to press the screw 9 down into the bag and thereby permit the expanders I0 and II to pack the material tightly in the bag. Gradually the increasing tightly packed material will force the screw 9 toward the top of the bag and when the bag is completely filled and packed the latch 36 will snap under thrust-bearing 35 and hold the screw 9 in raised position until the filled bag is removed and anempty bag placed in position for filling. r

It will be noted that when the bag has been lled .the lower end of the screw 9 which carries the expanders Iland II- will have risen up into the spout 1. ,When in this positi'on the expanders I9 and II will substantially fill the end of the spout 1 andwill press suflicient material against the sides of the spout 1 toclose the spout and prevent material from passing therethrough while the filled bag is being removed and an empty bag positioned for a filling operation.

The many advantages of the packing apparatus hereinbefore described may besummarized as follows: The double spiraled channels of the screw 9 and the double expanders located therein balance the screw 9 for purposes of rotation and permit rotation at higher speeds, increase the amount of material which may be packed in a given length of time, and increase the lateral packing surface of the screw 9 without increasing its diameter.

The use of the double expanders balances the screw by edualizing the pressure of the packed material from opposite sides of the screw.

The use of the double spiraled channels and expanders permits locating the expanders at the lowest extremity of the screwv 9 where the packing is mostly performed, and when so located the double expanders serve to close the spout of the funnel when the bag has been filled and while it is being removed and replaced by an empty bag.

The increased pitch of the spiraled channels adjacent the lower endA of the screw vfacilitates the passage of the material through the spout during the final lling operation.

'Ihe vertically movable screw and vthe control therefor eliminate the neoessityoi lowering the bag during a illling and packing operation and thus eliminate the necessity for a movable platform for the bag. It alsopermits controlling the tightness of the pack. 4,

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiment shown for purposes oi' illustration as the inventive feay tures may be variously embodied without departtainer comprising a rotatable screw having aing from the invention.

It will also be understood that all o! the features oi the invention need not be used coniointly as they may be used' in various combinations as defined in the subjoined claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for packing material in a container comprising a tube for insertion in the con-- tainer, a. rotatable screw extending through the tube and having a free end extending beyond the tube end, a plurality of expanders associated with the convolutions of the screw, and means to rotate the screw. v

2. Apparatus for packing material in a. conspiraled channel increased in pitch adjacent the lower extremity oi the screw, a second spiraled channel located adjacent the lower extremity of the screw, and means on said screw to force saidv material laterally in the container.

.3. Apparatus for packing material in a oontainer comprising a rotatable screw having a spiraled channel increased in pitch adjacent the lower extremity of the screw, a second spiraled channel located adjacent the lower extremity of the screw, and an expander located in each channel.

4. Apparatus for packing material in a con.

tainer comprising' a rotatable screw having a l spiraled channel increased in pitch adjacent the lower extremity ofthe screw, a second spiraled channel located adjacent the lower extremity of the screw, and expanders located on opposite sides of the screw.

5. Apparatus for packing material in a container comprising a rotatable screw havinga spiraled channel increased `in pitch adjacent the lower extremity of the screw, a second spiraled channel located adjacent the lower 'extremity oi' the screw, and expanders located in the channels opposite each other.

6. Apparatus for packing material in a container comprising a tube for insertion in the container, a rotatable screw extending through the tube and having a free end extending beyond the end of the tube. a plurality of expanders associated with the'free end of said screw, means to rotate the screw, and means to lower and raise the screw. l

7. Apparatus for packing .materialin a container comprising a rotatable/` screw having a spiral channel increased in pitch adjacent the .lower extremity of the screw, a second spiral channel located adjacent the lower extremity of the screw, expanderslocated on opposite sides o! 'the screw, means for rotating said screw, and 

